Lighting for a 10 gal

[Troutman]

Well, I just finished adding the live sand to my tank and am looking at a big cloud of dust floating around in there. Starting to settle, but I'm gonna guess it will be a few days before it completely settles.

My question is.......What would be the best lighting for this tank? I plan to build/buy a custom canopy. What wattage is required? I would like to add some coral frags down the road. Should I have different colored lights? Sorry, but I'm quite new to this. Browsing all of the threads is confusing. If I were to go with the www.ahsupply.com canopy, what lights should I get for it?

Thanks in advance!
Troutman

[Jeremy B.]

I did have 2 2x13w setups on my 10 gal....but just changed as of last night/today. I'm experimenting w/something new here. I bought a LOA 65w worklight from Walmart ($24.00) and built a canopy for to fit onto from scraps I had laying around. Then I wired in one of my 2x13w blue pc's from AH Supply....one on each side of the canopy. I don't have any corals yet....only about 30 lbs of Fiji rock, a yellow tail, and misc. amounts of turbo snails and scarlet and blue leg crabs. What I can tell you is this so far......It is brighter than before. I have a few button polyps (very small) that are growin off the rock. They've shrank up their stems, but their main flower area is larger than I've ever seen them before. I've noticed the small feather dusters that are sprouting are spreading out a lot more as well. Only time will tell. HTH

[lakerfan]

go for the 2x36 watt setup from ahsupply it should give you some flexibility as to what you can put in your tank. IMO you should always put the highest wattage that you can both afford and tolerate (in regards to heat, light escaping the hood, replacement bulbs, canopy height, etc...)

HTH

[bigchili]

If your going to use the canopy for a 10 gallon from AH Supply - Read this post first....

READ FIRST (http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33123)

This should answer quite a few questions....

[Troutman]

Thanks for your replies!

I couldn't believe it this morning, but the tank had almost completely cleared. At least until I leveled the sand a little more. Should I wait a specific time period before adding the live rock?

I think it might be best to build a canopy myself. After reading the other post that bigchili pointed out, it would be just as easy I think. Why buy a premade canopy just to get the tools out anyway to modify it. Plus, I want to be able to put a CPR 2 skimmer on it. Is it best to leave a glass cover between the water and lights? How 'bout fans? Best blowing across the water, off the water, or at the water?

I think heat will be a problem. I left the 15 watt standard flour. light on for a few hours and it jumped the temp up to 81 from 77. Do PC's generate a lot more heat?

Sorry for all the questions! I just want to do this right the first time instead of buying a bunch of stuff, then buying a bunch more to replace it. How does the saying go..."Buy good stuff once, or buy cheap twice"?

[lakerfan]

Ask all the questions you want. I only wish I had found this board when i started into saltwater. I wasted a few hundred dollars of equipment along the way.
As far as PC's generating more heat than NO lights, yes they definitely do. A lot more IMO. Also, the you will definitely have to get a fan to help cool the tank down. blowing across the surface has always worked well for me.
Oh bye the way, i think you can add your live rock now to get that cycled in while you're working on your canopy.

BEN

[Troutman]

I just finished putting the live rock in. About 15 pounds I'd guess. All kinds of interesting and bizarre creatures in there. There is also an anemone-looking thingy that I haven't a clue what it is!?! It's cream colored and flat when open with tentacles around the edges. None in the middle. Looks to be about 4 inches in diameter. The single powerhead seems to be circulating everything well enough (small things on almost all of the rock are moving from the current). I decided to go with the 2x36 lights in my own canopy. I've been staring at this tank for about an hour. VERY COOL!

[lakerfan]

Please keep us updated on the tank.

ANY PICS???

[Troutman]

This is about the best I can do for a picture right now. It was taken with my webcam. Pretty poor quality.

[Troutman]

Any idea what this is?

[Troutman]

JeremyB,

I was planning to order my lights tomorrow from ahsupply until I stopped into walmart today and bought the LOA worklight. Man what a difference over my 15 watt NO. Everything looks a lot better. I'm thinking about building the canopy now. I thought I would build a rectangular frame, router a ridge around the top and fill the hole with a piece of plexi. Then cut a hole in the plexi to drop the lens of the worklight into. That should keep the light pretty much water tight. Then I could also drill a couple of small holes in the plexi for feeding the fish without lifting it up. Could even make a small door if I get motivated enough. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Have you modified your light in any way (holes)? Any problems with heat. My light is currently sitting on top of two one inch tubes above a glass cover. The back of the light is pretty warm.

[Jeremy B.]

The only thing I did to the light was take off all the bracket/stand it comes with, then take off the lens. Its mounted into a canopy(backside of the light is not in the canopy) and its setting about 2 1/2" off the water. No problems so far but it does get very hot. I'm gonna get a small fan to place facing the backside of the light. Other than that its pretty good.

[Troutman]

I've been using the LOA 65 for a couple of days now and really like it. I haven't been leaving it on while I'm away yet. I don't quite trust it being that it does get pretty warm. I did take the light apart and drill a bunch of holes in the housing. A noticable difference in how hot it gets. I think I'll put a couple more holes in the side so it can draw air in and up through it. My water hasn't gotten any warmer than 81 degrees, even after leaving the light on for 12 hours.